Musty smells and dusty shelves
Many places in the pages
Where to go and what to know
So many choices, echoes of voices

Gentle handling, floorboards rattling
Once was great, now lost to fate
Still treasure inside, their value magnified
Stories of old, worth more than gold

Lying awake at night
Staring out at nothing
Feeling my thoughts swimming

I could

Even with my eyes closed
My muscles calm and stilled
I know in my heart

I could

Tomorrow will bring the chance
Or I could act tonight
Just one movement and

I could

I can

But I won’t

Not now

But maybe

Her name was Tori

She ran like a cheetah
Spots speckled her body
Her hair blew in the wind
Soft laughter escaped her
She ran for enjoyment

T was for talent
She could do anything
O was for odd
She was her own person
R was for radiant
She emitted an aura
I was for intelligence
She had a mind of everything

She fit her name like a glove
Silent awe in her wake
No one could stop her
Something always burned within
She never stopped running

An image
It stares back at me
Such a peculiar, yet familiar face
It lives

My heart begins to pound as a voice seeps into my head
I know it well
It breathes a poison that clouds my thoughts
I look back to the stranger

The figure looks at me
Their form is perfect
I see myself
And I am wrong

A smile of kindness and beauty materializes
It is beloved by many
The expression I see before me is long dead
Lost to the perpetual whisper

I sigh as I let it envelop me
Why resist?
It’s words buzz about
Telling me what I already see

A ghost
No longer are they real
Were they ever?
I may never know

The husk that I see,
The stranger I know so well
Looks one last time





I turn away